Taipei Mayor Hau Lung-bin (郝龍斌) and director of China’s National Tourism Administration Shao Qiwei (邵琪偉) yesterday pledged to work together to promote cross-strait tourism and bring more Chinese tourists to Taipei.
Shao, who led a Chinese delegation attending the Taipei Taiwan Strait Travel Fair, also promised to help promote the Taipei International Flora Expo in China and offer administrative assistance to Chinese tourists attending the event.
“The number of Chinese tourists in Taiwan has grown rapidly, and we expect to see more Chinese tourists in Taipei when the expo opens,” Shao said.
“We will offer administrative assistance and be fully cooperative,” Shao addded.
Statistics from Taipei City’s Department of Information & Tourism show about 100,000 Chinese visit Taipei every month.
With the Taipei International Flora Expo opening on Nov. 6, the Taipei City Government is working with the tourism administrations in Shanghai and several other major Chinese cities to promote the expo.
Hau said the Taipei City Government had devoted its efforts to building a friendly, safe and comfortable tourist environment in Taipei and that the development of the tourism industry was one of his administration’s priorities.
As the central government considers lifting the ban on Chinese traveling individually to Taiwan, the Taipei mayor said his administration is prepared to welcome individual travelers by establishing youth hostels and cheap hotels, and providing travel guides designed for individual Chinese tourists.
At present, Chinese citizens visiting Taiwan can only travel in groups because of concerns they may overstay their visas and attempt to work in the country illegally.
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